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Problems with the Uber’s self-driving cars

Uber’s self-driving program has to be handled carefully because it had experienced many bumpy experiences. Uber’s self-driving cars have met with accidents during the trial and they didn’t obey the traffic signals, this happened in Pittsburgh, this is the city where the Uber’s self-driving cars are being tested.

The Uber’s autonomous car turns down to a one way street before its operator took control over it, so by this, we cannot find out, whether the mistake on the driver or with the self-driving car.

One of the Uber drivers said that, the Uber self-driving car pulled over the sides of the road ad met with the accident. But Uber has confirmed only one accident others, it left unaddressed.

Uber is working hard to launch the Uber’s self-driving cars. But this may take some years to launch the complete self-driving car. Uber invited about 50 reporters to test drive the company’s autonomous cars. In the test drive they had some advantages, but these self-driving cars were hardly self-driving.

At present the self-driving cars do not require one driver inside the car, instead they require two Uber engineers inside the car. There are many stories about the Uber’s self-driving cars that drivers or the engineers have taken control over the car, when the car can’t handle the situation.

The tough self-driving technology Today’s self-driving cars can’t handle snow, pedestrians, bridges and many more things. This list may extend, but these things are solvable. The technology portions of the self-driving cars are the easy part. The company is investing more in the technology portion to solve these issues.

Uber has also acquired Otto, which is the startup company and it is mainly focused on fitting trucks with the autonomous driving technology. The companies like, Google and Tesla will have the best start in the self-driving technology, so Uber will try to invest more , in order to cope up with their competition and to move forward in the industry.

Many of the passengers will not concentrate on the cons of the technology, but there are some passengers who will cause problems with the self-driving cars. Here are some of the factors where the passengers will make the error in the self-driving cars.

Incorrect pin drop: During the weekends or the occasions, the passengers want the drivers to drive at the exact location; they didn’t bother about the safety issues at that time. Their only intention is to have a ride without considering the driver’s problems.

Issues in mapping Uber currently uses Google Maps to find the routes and destinations. As Google is also working on the self-driving technology, we can’t predict that, how long Google will offer services to its competitors. Now, Google has the ride sharing option on the Maps app, it lists the Google’s competitors like Lyft, Gett and others.

Contacting the driver The problem for every passenger is how to contact the driver in case of emergencies in the self-driving cars. And the doubt about how the responses in the robot machine will be.

Dealing with drunks There will be higher demand for the uber rides at the weekend, because these days are the party days. There will be more incidents of the drivers during the weekends. Many riders will make the drivers to wait for the longest time; some will add more passengers than the limit, some will open the doors while the car is in motion, some will fight in the back seat and some will throw things out of the window. These types of passengers will take over advantage with the self-driving cars as no will be there to stop them.

Stop in between the destination Most of the passengers will make the driver stop in between for a few minutes. This kind of situations will be difficult for the self-driving cars to handle, since it is difficult for the drivers to handle.

Low ratings Uber will dismiss the driver if the ratings fall below 4.6. then what will Uber do if the ratings of the self-driving car go below 4.6. The robot can’t match the driving skills of the human and vice versa. Not all the things, which the Uber driver does can’t be programmed and match with the efficient algorithms.

The Uber’s self-driving cars can be programmed to meet all the above issues, but the problem is, how it will affect the brand name of Uber. Many people prefer Uber, instead of the Lyft, Tesla and many other raid-sharing services. With the introduction of the self-driving cars, Uber brand may have an effect. So it is up to the company to maintain its brand name.

Many passengers like to talk with the driver during the ride, so these kinds of passengers prefer the driver than a robot. The company’s largest expense is the drivers. So they prefer self-driving cars than the drivers, because self-driving cars will be available at the lower rates. In terms of price, people will prefer the self-driving cars, as they are a lot cheaper than the normal Uber fares.

Arrival of new technology It is a common fact that, when the new technology, it pushes the old down and the new technology will threaten the existence of workers and their emotions will tend to increase. This situation happened when Uber was introduced; it pushed the taxis down when it arrived in the industry.

People didn’t discuss about the driver jobs in this situation, but this actually matters a lot. Lyft Company said that, their drivers will not lose their jobs; even the self-driving cars are introduced. Because, the human driven cars will also operate along with the self-driving cars, so it is safe for the Lyft drivers. The situation of the Uber drivers is under confusion.

It is easy for the company to tell the drivers that this will be the future, but the occupation and the life of the Uber drivers’ matters a lot.

Peak demand challenges If the decision ends up owning the fleet, there will be biggest challenges during the peak times and at the times of the peak demand like floods, disasters etc.

In the past, taxis experienced this situation. The taxis were not able to meet the demand during the weekends, if they arrange more taxis during the peak days, then they will be left free for the rest of the day.

At present Uber solves this problem. Most of the Uber’s self-driving cars are the part-time drivers; they drive for 10 hours a week or less than that. The weekend demand can be met and the cabs will not be free when the demand is low. But to maintain the own fleet, it requires to have enough cars to meet the moderate demand. And if the self-driving cars are more expensive, strangers will not agree to have a ride in it.

More days to go It is the starting days of the self-driving cars. The government and many raid-sharing companies feel that this self-driving technology is unstoppable. The main aim of the self-driving cars is to stop deaths due to accidents and to reduce the pollution and traffic.

In the states like California, self-driving cars are tested without the drivers inside the car. Not only Uber, almost all the companies who are developing the self-driving cars are facing challenges with this technology. Till some more years are needed to develop the complete self-driving car.

Author Bio : Anand Rajendran is the Co-Founder and CEO of Snoota, one of the top android app development companies in Chennai. He is a passionate blogger & SEO Specialist who write articles on various topics. Snoota is a software product developed by his company that has launched Taxigen script which is a Uber Clone Script with Android and iOS apps.